Transplantation pancréatique : indications, résultats et perspectives

Pancreas transplantation is now a well established treatment for type I diabetes. More than 17 000 cases have been reported to the International Pancreas Transplant Registry. One year graft survival is around 80%. The majority of the cases are combined kidney and pancreas transplants harvested from the same donor in type I diabetics with an advanced nephropathy. However, the recent progresses in the field of immunosuppression have improved the results of isolated pancreas transplants or pancreas after kidney transplants. These 2 categories are not very frequent in Europe but could be more frequently offered in light of these results. Major breakthrough have also been done in the field of islets transplantation. A multicenter trial is currently in progress to assess whether the excellent results reported by a Canadian group are reproducible or not. If yes, this technique could have a place of choice for pancreatic endocrine function replacement.